Preview - Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

Last year's Tomb Raider reboot did a lot of things right, but it didn't exactly have a lot of tombs to raid. It was more action than adventure, with Lara Croft morphing from 'young girl struggling to hunt deer for food' into 'young girl brutally murdering any enemy she comes across' within a few cut scenes. Those after something a bit more traditional will likely find Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris a good match, as platforming and puzzle solving are the main order of the day.

You play as Lara. Or you can play as Lara's fellow explorer Carter Bell. Or you could even play as Isis or Horus, a pair of Egyptian Gods. Bear with me. Lara and Carter were searching through the tomb of Osiris when somehow an argument between ancient Gods 2000 years ago trapped them there. The remains of the Gods have been scattered and need to be found. Isis is the wife of Osiris, while Horus is his son, and they both want to help you out. Simple.

For however convoluted that all sounds the main thing to take from it is that up to four players can play this game cooperatively. While Lara is the main character if you're playing it solo - with her dual pistols and grapple hook at the ready - as soon as a second player joins the other characters open up. Isis and Horus have their superhuman powers to call upon while Carter also comes with his own weapons.

Having four unique characters is a lovely touch and really makes things tricky when deciding which one to pick. Lara's grapple hook is imperative to progressing through levels so whoever controls her will be climbing up walls or helping others across dangerous drops. Whereas the Gods have a special ability to emit a blue ball around themselves, shielding them from oncoming fire or serving as a good platform for others to jump onto and reach a higher ledge. 

Brilliantly, levels will be altered depending on how many characters are playing at the time. Switches will have moved and platforms will have changed places so that everything is tailored to the number of people there are. This means playing the game solo or cooperatively will give off two unique experiences, and while they won't be massively different it is nice to see levels change so dynamically.

While Temple of Osiris is heavily weighted towards teamwork and helping out your fellow player, there's also an element of competition that's been squeezed in. You get points for taking out enemies while each level is also littered with gems which add to your points total. It's just for bragging rights, but coming out on top of the scorecards at the end of a hectic stage can be the icing on the cake. There're also plenty of chances to troll your fellow player, by pretending to help them across ledges before letting them fall down a dark pit. It's all good fun.

The level we played through had a fair bit of puzzle solving but it wasn't too taxing on the brain. Have three players stand on these blocks so that a door can open up, you know the drill. It was the level of teamwork that impressed us, though, with Lara using her grapple hook so that Isis could get to the top of a ledge, who then returned the favour by helping to pull Lara across.

The end of it also had a few heart in the mouth moments, as a giant monster had been disturbed and went on the rampage. A mad dash ensued, with our heroes leaping over gaps and struggling to avoid deadly spikes. It took more than a few attempts to complete but in the end we made it to relative safety, and on we went to the next puzzle. We understand these bigger, movie-like moments will be found across the stages to break up the dungeon crawling, and if the right balance is found then developer Crystal Dynamics is onto another winner.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris might not have Tomb Raider in the name but it's arguably a greater tribute to the franchise than last year's reboot. Searching through tombs, solving puzzles and discovering secrets is what fans of Lara have always loved, and with that in mind there's much to look forward to here. The coop elements are superb and we can't wait to see more.